


Make A Wish

by LydiaTyde, Senowolf



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Awkward Boners, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Sexual Situations, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Bully Michael, Bullying, Cancer, Cashton, Depressed Luke, Depression, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fights, Hate to Love, I'm Sorry, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Love, Love/Hate, Luke Hemmings & Ashton Irwin Friendship, Luke Hemmings & Calum Hood Friendship, Luke has cancer, M/M, Michael Clifford & Ashton Irwin Friendship, Michael Clifford Hates Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford Loves Luke Hemmings, Muke - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Calum Hood, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Tags May Change, Triggers, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Humiliation, What Was I Thinking?, Why Did I Write This?, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:32:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7577836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LydiaTyde/pseuds/LydiaTyde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senowolf/pseuds/Senowolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Luke is re-diagnosed with cancer, he can't help but fall into a state of depression. Even when his parents try to get him to at least talk to the Make A Wish Foundation, he doesn't see the point in it. Eventually though, after a very thick talk with the foundation and his parents, he finally agrees to do it. As long as his friends Calum and Ashton are allowed to go. But then something happened, something that Luke hadn't anticipated. The person you could say he disliked, but more so hated, was brought along.</p>
<p>Michael Clifford.</p>
<p>Luke and Michael have been enemies since they met each other, always throwing rude and snide comments at the other. Michael always won in those situations, his comments cutting deep into Luke's memory. So in a way they were bullies to each other. But by the time Michael had arrived at the airport, it was too late to kick him to the curb.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Recurrence

**Author's Note:**

> So this just kind of happened..... The plot popped up in my mind bc my mom was watching a documentary of kids who had cancer and I heard the "Make A Wish" thing and thought, oo, this would make a great fanfic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calum struggles with it.

_"Breast cancer in men is a rare disease. Less than 1% of all breast cancers occur in men. In 2016, about 2,600 men are expected to be diagnosed with the disease. For men, the lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000."_

"I just so happen to be that one in one-thousand. Go bloody figure." Luke smiled sourly, his blue eyes focused on his phone rather than the words being read to him.

"Ey, I didn't finish reading yet. And stop putting yourself down. It's the last thing you should be doing in your condition." Calum nudged him before continuing. 

_"You may be thinking: Men don't have breasts-"_

"Oh you think?" Luke growled as Calum read the article to him aloud from his laptop.

_"So how can they get breast cancer? The truth is that boys and girls, men and women all have breast tissue. The various hormones in girls' and women's bodies stimulate the breast tissue to grow into full breasts."_ Calum stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh that's quite enough. I don't need to learn stuff that'll be useless to me in a year or so." Luke quipped while slamming the laptop closed on Calum's hands.

"Ouch! You-errr. Can you really blame me for trying?" Calum glared at his friend before scooting to the end of the bed so he was facing away from Luke.

"Well it's true! This will all be pointless for me within the next two years. The life expectancy for stage 4 breast cancer is roughly two to three years, the highest being five. But seeing as my body decided to sneak up on me and surprise me with small growing tumors in my liver, lungs, bones and possibly even brain, then really Calum, what is the point!?" Luke started out annoyed, but ended up yelling.

"I don't know okay!" Calum shouted back, his voice cracking in multiple places as he stood from the bed.

Luke just glared at his friend who was now staring at him, eyes and face red. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time he and Calum, or Ashton had fought about this. Whether it was this time around or the last time this happened.

"All I know is that until that day comes I'm going to be right beside you just like before. Trying to help you and root for you till the very end. Even if that means reading pointless shit to you when you don't even pay attention!" Calum finished, his bottom lip sticking out in a quivering pout.

Luke looked away from the Kiwi, knowing that his friend was hurting. He knew he was and he knew Calum pitied him, but he didn't want that. He didn't need that. Not now. All he wanted was to be left alone since he was going to live for roughly two more years before dropping dead in the middle of doing something. His gaze was directed back to the dark haired boy when he heard a loud sniffle.

Calum was sitting on his bed again, his back to him, but that didn't hide the shake in those growing shoulders. Didn't muffle the small, hiccuping sounds whispered into the room. Luke felt guilt wash over him and and he quickly moved himself so he was beside the boy.

"Cal, I'm sorry." Luke started, trying to put a hand on the boys back, only to have it shrugged off.

"I don't-You shouldn't be comforting m-me!" Calum sobbed, his voice coming out as a yell because of the emotion behind his words.

"I-I-I should be the one, co-comforting you, not the other w-way around." He cried before bringing his hands up to his eyes to messily wipe the tears away.

Luke gave him a moment before pulling Calum under his arm. The other teen took a moment to compose himself before speaking again.

"I could barely handle it last time, and now that it's happening all over again? Now that it is twice as bad as before? I know that all of this is pointless to you Luke, but to me it-" he paused to take another deep breath to calm himself a little bit. "To me, it's the only thing keeping me from breaking at the seams whenever I see you. I don't know how you can even smile at this point." Calum whispered into the warm room.

The words made their impact on Luke, they just needed a moment to sink in. When they did, the blonde couldn't stop the gasp that left his mouth and the tears that sprung to his eyes. His eyes widened in surprise at his own reaction but he couldn't staunch the flow of tears now running down his face. They came down harder instead and his voice got all choked up on itself as he started to cry.

Calum was quick to pull the blonde into his arms. He muttered soft words into Luke's hair, telling him things like _it's going to be okay_ and _it's alright Luke, there there_ and the whole mantra. Luke wanted so bad to scream profanities at the cooing but they were what he needed right now. Even though he knew that they were really pointless since stage 4 breast cancer is pretty much incurable, he took comfort in them.

"I know how much your life means to you Luke, me and Ashton both know. I don't want to see you just throw it away. Ashton and I both still have the money we saved from last time. I want to see you live the rest of your life to the fullest. Till you truly do want nothing more to do with the world and would rather stash your memories away for the long journey after this life." Calum spoke like he was a priest.

Luke laughed through his sobs, not meaning to but Calum really was a sap at times. His laughs quickly reverted back to sobs though. His best friend since year two held him through it.

"Promise me you'll live your life to the fullest, or you'll at least try. Promise me you'll take that one wish and turn it into a reality before the clock strikes twelve. Promise me Luke, as your most best, best friend." Calum demanded lightly.

Luke had calmed down just a little bit, still in tears, but not sobbing anymore. He looked at his best friend and gave him a broken smile before nodding.

"O-Okay. I P-Pr-Promise." He stuttered.

"Okay, now come here." Calum pulled himself free of the other long enough to climb under the blankets and hold them up for Luke. 

Luke rubbed at his eyes before following suit, cuddling into the nice comfort of his friend.

He promised he'd try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry....


	2. Fuck You Clifford

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small look into the first time Luke was diagnosed, and intro Mikey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol helps me write. Especially Muke.

Even though Luke was re-diagnosed he still had to go to school. For another month anyway. It was normal for that to happen. If someone was terminally ill, then they could drop out. That was Luke's plan. Drop out so that he could die in a little bit of peace and quiet.

Let's just say that everyone at the school thought he was just dropping out. He was a senior and all, eighteen as of last month. Go figure, that was just a few weeks before he got sent to the hospital for having strong pains in his chest. His mum had thought it was a heart attack, but even Luke knew that deep down she dreaded the real reason. As it turned out, Luke had a blood clot in one of the veins that ran across his sternum. They had it fixed in no time, but they stayed at the hospital longer than they had originally planned.

That was when Luke was re-diagnosed.

His mum burst into tears the moment the doctor started to speak. She knew what it meant. Luke knew too, but when he found out he just went numb. It was the second time he'd been diagnosed with cancer. Of course he was going to go numb. Luke knew his body hated him so why get angry over it.

He already had three large scars from past surgeries on his pectorals and a new one on his upper hip where they had just removed a decently sized tumor.

When Luke had been first spotted with cancer, he had gone crazy. Screaming that men don't get breast cancer and that he didn't even have breasts so therefore it was impossible. But no he was very wrong. But what had shocked everyone was how young he was. Not so much that another male had breast cancer, as much as how young he was. Most men when diagnosed with breast cancer were in their mid sixties and early seventies. So he was in a way, a worldly sensation, except no one knew about his issue. Calum and Ashton knew, the school administrators knew but other than that no one else knew.

Liz had made sure of that. The whole school had known before, and it had come as a small surprise when Michael left him alone during those times. They'd both kept their mouths shut then. But when the school found out that he was in remission, Michael was back to his old ways. Making rude comments to Luke and vise versa.

Michael never once mentioned his cancer though. That was curious on it's own but then again it wasn't curious at all. Luke knew Michael could be an asshole but if it was one thing he knew, it was that Michael wasn't heartless. He seemed pretty cool actually, when he wasn't around Luke of course. Michael was actually liked around the school grounds. He was nice and funny and really adorable looking, and yeah maybe Luke had a small attraction to him but no one needed to know that.

It was only physical anyway. Whenever Michael so much as opened his mouth Luke would get instantly annoyed. Like right now.

"Hey Hood! It's been a while where you been? Hanging out with this rascal have you?" Michael laughed as his sage green eyes landed on Luke who shrunk a little behind Calum.

Any other day he would have snapped back. But he just wasn't up for it today. Not after last night.

"Yeah. And he's my little rascal so that's all I care about." Calum growled faintly before asking, "Have you seen Ashton yet?"

Michael smirked before nodding over to a big group of guys. Calum turned to leave, taking a step before turning back to look at Luke as if asking permission. The blonde nodded for him to go, Luke needed to pee anyway.

"I'll see you later then, Hood!" The black haired boy called with a toothy smile as Calum jogged away.

"I won't see you though Hemmings. God forbid if I do. I don't think I could stand it if I made you get too butt-hurt today. Little pathetic thing like you." Michael smiled, reminding Luke of a lunatic in a movie.

"..Fuck off Clifford..." Luke mumbled under his breath as he pushed past Michael, only to feel a cool hand grab his shoulder.

"What was that Hemmings? Did you say something just now?" Michael asked with a smile that did a fine job of hiding his hatred.

"I said _'fuck off Clifford.'_ What do you need, hearing aids or a megaphone?" Luke snapped before trying to wiggle free of the uncomfortably tight grip on his shoulder.

The smile fell from Michael's face slowly, replaced by a deadly glare. Then he smiled again, his eyes looking like they could kill.

"You better watch what you say Hemmings." Michael seethed.

"Or what, Kitten? You'll meow me to death?" Luke growled out, but on the inside he was shitting his pants.

He vaguely noted how Michael's face seemed to deepen a small shade at the pet name. But maybe it was just from anger.

"Or I will personally make sure you will regret not dropping out sooner. You damn fag." He whispered into Luke's ear before shoving past him and turning into one of the many hallways of the highschool.

Luke winced in slight pain. He brought a hand up to rub his shoulder where Michael had held him. The only real scare from the other teenager was his height. He was tall. But also his eyes. They had so much emotion, and were amazing at reflecting them onto his pursuers and prey.

"Ah damn it. I'm such and idiot. Damn you Luke. Great, just feeding the fire huh." Luke mumbled to himself as he finally went to the bathroom.

The first bell rung for morning classes and he groaned. Not only was he in a bad mood now, he was going to be late for class. Well fuck it. He was going to die anyway. Who would give a shit about grades then.

"No one." Luke whispered before starting his already shit day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this seems a bit forced, this chapter, and I'm sorry for that, it's just it was a bit of a filler chapter before Luke gets in a fight with his parents about Making His Wish.
> 
> But yeah. Thoughts so far?


	3. Damn It All To Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and his mom argue. An agreement is established.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)

It was the end of the day, and Luke was home now. And a home should be a man's castle, not something they regret coming back to the second they walk through the door.

Instead, when he came home he came home to a conversation he didn't want to even think about. Because it was stupid and pointless at this _stage_. All the puns intended.

"They've raised a lot of money for you so you could decide what to do with it Luke-" Liz started but Luke cut her off.

"No, Mum how many times have I said this. I. Don't. Want. To make a wish." Luke groaned as he tried to walk past his mother.

"Luke, you need to at least think about it. You have to try Baby. I don't want you to regret the last-last-" Liz stopped, her eyes filling with tears.

Luke felt some remorse but instead of giving into it he pushed it down.

"Mum, we're not having this conversation right now-"

"No Luke! We _are_ having this conversation! You don't just get to decide these things! It's your life, and I won't let you just, waste away the time you have left!" Liz yelled.

Luke spun around like a dime, the anger on his face unimaginable.

"You're right! It is my life so don't you dare tell me what to do with it. I only have so much time left and I don't really see the point in doing anything if I'm destined for the inevitable oblivion that will follow after my death." Luke growled.

Liz gasped, her hand coming up to cover her heart as if she'd been attacked. And she probably had been. Luke knew his mistake the moment the words left his mouth but he couldn't take it back now.

"Mum I-" Luke stopped himself from speaking and instead pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

There was a long pause, one Luke was not enjoying at all. He knew his mum loved and cared for him like he was the last flower on the planet, but sometimes she just went overboard. He heard her sniffle before she spoke, quietly this time.

"And what of your friends? Will you just push them away too? Will you not let them spend as much time with you as possible?" She asked.

Luke sighed and knew how this would end. She'd tell him about everything that he would miss out on and all the experiences that he might miss, and then he'd take the bait and agree to anything she said.

"If it comes to that, then yes. I don't want them to be with me when I die. It'll ruin them.." Luke whispered softly.

"Oh Luke. If only you knew how happy it'd make them to know that you lived the last leg of your life to it's fullest. Then it wouldn't hurt them as much, it'd be easier to let go. I could let go easier-knowing that my baby did things an-" She started to cry.

Luke looked at his mum, and instantly decided he hated how small she looked right now. His proud mum, always standing up for what she believed in and never being afraid to put Luke in his place. Before he had ever been diagnosed with cancer, he'd always get into trouble for drinking and going to parties. Even if he rarely did either of those things before.

"Mum don't cry." Luke warned, only making his mum sob harder.

This was going to destroy her. It already was. It's funny how cancer works. It was never really the patient that it hurt the most, it was always the people that loved them.

"Mum please don't cry... Please..." Luke pleaded, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

She inhaled and held her breath, looking up into her son's very beautiful blue eyes. Her own red and watery.

Luke dropped his resolve and quickly pulled his mum into his arms, resting her head against his broad shoulder.

"I'm sorry mum. I'm sorry." He murmured into her hair as she broke against his chest.

They stayed like that forever it seemed. But it was probably only minutes.

"I know you want me to do something with myself mum. I know you do. But I..." He paused, wondering how to word his anxious thoughts.

"I don't know what I'd even wish for anymore... I can't just wish _this_ away.." He whispered, his nose stinging like it did whenever he was about to cry.

Liz held him tighter to her as she processed the words.

"We can figure something out Baby. We can see if you could take Calum and Ashton with you, for whatever you decide. We could see if you could meet the Foo Fighters, or Bring Me The Horizon, or All Time Lo-"

"Mum, I don't want to do any of those things anymore." Luke said while pulling away from their embrace.

"If I'm going to die, I'd rather die on another continent than Australia any day.." He mumbled sarcastically.

He gasped when he realized what he said. It was to late to protest because Liz was already up and going for the phone.

"No mum I didn't mean it I was just saying stuff-" He started, anger bubbling in his stomach.

She quieted him with a finger and then dialed the cursed number to the foundation and then held the phone to her ear.

Luke inwardly screamed, his plan--he never had a plan--to blow his mum off had worked amazingly. He knew he'd never get her to back off now. All she ever needed was just a small amount of leverage and then he was done for. Literally.

*******

Needless to say, after a long conversation filled with arguing, lot's of crying--on both parts, and begging, Luke finally decided on something he'd like to do. Not that he wished for it but his mum and the foundation took it as such. He'd mumbled and sniffled about liking to go on a trip to North America. Where he AND, Calum and Ashton could travel around together. That seemed to fly pretty easily for both his mum and the foundation. No surprise there. His mum had practically made the caller agent agree to it.

"Damn you Luke, what the hell were you doing?" He cursed as he headed back to his room without saying goodnight to his mum.

He was so boned. So very boner owned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap!!
> 
> Questions? Comments? Thoughts on what might happen?
> 
> I actually liked this chapter. Because now we can really start moving into the deeper side of things and get to the heartfelt love and hate.
> 
> Lol. I'm a little shit.


	4. Tell Me A Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little light into Mikey's life.

Michael's eyes fluttered open, immediately seeing a curly haired head next to him. He smiled before running his hand through the thick waves of honey gold. There was a quiet moan in response.

"Ashy.. Wakey wakey. C'mon you fucker get up." Michael said with a shove.

Ashton squealed as he was pushed to the edge of the bed where he teetered for a moment before regaining his balance.

"What was that for? You don't just push a sleeping person off the bed! Nor attempt to push someone off the bed. _Dick..._ " Ashton whispered the last part under his breath.

Michael poked him in turn, knowing very well that Ashton hated being poked.

"Don't touch me you jerk. Just trying to sleep and you have to ruin my beauty rest." Ashton said in a dominant tone.

Michael only laughed before falling on top of the curly haired boy. The older of the two groaned from the weight, nudging and wriggling to try to get the kitten-like boy off.

"So what did you think of that song I had written?" Michael asked when Ashton gave up on trying to free himself from the galaxy haired teen.

"Oh you mean the one that is so obviously about Luke? The sad and depressing one? The one that wasn't even finished? That one?" Ashton gasped from under Michael.

The raven haired boy scoffed and pushed himself up and away from Ashton.

"It's not about that little prick. It's simply about someone who is-" He started, unable to finish when his friend interrupted him.

"Someone who's seriously ill and are dying. Yeah. Totally wasn't about Luke. I mean come on Michael. I know about your crush." Ashton rolled his eyes at how Michael kept trying to brush it off as nothing.

He had tried to approach Luke once, way back in year seven, but then some moron decided it would be nice to piss Michael off by saying his hair _looked stupid_ and that he looked _like a gay emo kid._ So when he had actually said anything to the blonde, it was an insult. He hadn't meant to say anything, but then Luke was just there, glaring at him. Then he'd cursed him before walking off with some Kiwi boy. A boy named Calum, who seemed like a classic mean girl. If Luke would grow to hate Michael, then of course he would too.

After that, whenever Luke saw Michael he became annoyed. And therefore Michael being Michael, he would retaliate to anything Luke growled at him. You could say he blamed his zodiac sign, which was Scorpio. They didn't back away from shit. That also meant that he didn't know when to stop. He had seen the many masks of hurt of Luke Hemmings. Seen it in his eyes. Whenever he caused the pain in Luke's very deep blue eyes he'd regretted everything he'd said. But Luke thought Michael hated him, so Michael simply played along. It was cruel really, but Michael is a man of pride and like hell he was gonna shove that down the drain over some bitchy teenage boy.

And who knew how Luke would react if Michael suddenly apologized for all the crap he gave him. It would either make everything worse, or it would just make them both feel awkward, and that would make things worse anyway. So no matter what he did, there wasn't really any upsides to their predicament.

And then he heard the rumors going around school. But then... they weren't rumors...

When the whole school had found out that Luke had cancer, Michael had been shocked. Then his fear had set in. He'd always been so rude, and quite frankly, a dick towards Luke. Then he found out about his cancer and he'd started to panic because _What if he dies?_ Or, _What if he dies without me ever saying I'm sorry?_ Or there was the most obvious question, _What if he dies without ever knowing that I like him..?_

Call Michael a sap but he'd always fancied the boy. That was the main reason he'd tried to approach him that one fateful day back in year seven. Clearly that didn't work out as planned.

Whenever he'd see Luke laugh at something that stupid Kiwi kid would say, he couldn't hide the smile that would come to his face.

Speaking about smiles, Luke had a gorgeous smile, and a super cute nose. It was so cute that Michael often fantasized what it would be like to kiss it. He'd also thought of kissing other parts of the blonde boy but nobody needed to openly know that. Michael would be lying if he said he never wondered what those broad shoulders would feel like in his arms, or what it'd feel like to _be_ in those arms.

He liked Luke so much that it sometimes physically hurt him to throw a cruel remark at the younger boy. Then again it always hurt to some degree. Like the one he'd said yesterday.

_"Or I will personally make sure you will regret not dropping out sooner. You damn fag."_

He hated himself so much for that because he literally had no right to say that to Luke. I mean he was openly bisexual, so why he thought it'd be okay to make fun of Luke when he was straight made no sense. Like none.

Not to mention that Luke had been in remission. He had finally escaped cancerous cells in his body and was getting back on track. But Michael never _REALLY_ bullied him...

Then he remembered what Luke had said before his remark.

_"Or what, Kitten?"_

That had definitely stirred some feelings up. Ones of lust... or arousal.

Oh whatever they're the same damn thing.

Fact is that when Luke said that, he couldn't stop his blush. Then of course he snapped back, coming off as a huge dick. Just because he had one didn't mean he needed to act like one.

"I don't like him." Michael growled.

"Oh no? You just go on and on about how cute his nose is and how he has _amazing_ legs. And speaking of legs, I've heard quite a lot about how you would love to put your head between his _glorious_ thigh gap and-"

"Okay! Okay! Okay! That's enough of that. I will still shove you off the bed." He threatened.

Ashton made a sound of mock fear but laughed none the less. Michael could be so ridiculous at times. One minute he's talking about his sexy dreams and the next he's denouncing everything he just said. What a drama queen.

"Well if you _don't_ like Luke who do you like? Abigail Breslin?" Ashton giggled loudly as Michael's face turned full of disgust mixed with anger.

"You are the worst human being on the planet... I hate her. She made a poem about me in literature! A shitty poem but one about me none the less! Uhg, I can't believe I gave my v-card to that ungrateful bitch." Michael shuddered at the memory.

"Hmm well. You see that's why you wait till you know they're the one." Ashton replied with all the wisdom he could muster.

"Oh shut up Ashton. Like you even follow that advise. Remember Briana? I don't even remember her name loll, but I don't really care since she's gone with the wind." The slightly younger teen stated.

Ashton's face went beet red and he swat at Michael's head angrily.

"Don't you dare bring that up now!" Ashton exclaimed.

"Bring what up? The fact that she was twice your age or the part where she made you her submissive little pet?" The younger laughed as Ashton full on whined from embarrassment, his head resting in his large hands.

"Or-Or the fact that she made you kind of gay because you liked having things up your-"

Michael stopped talking, or laughing really, when there was a soft dinging sound. The song "Pierre" by Ryan Weaver playing. The lyrics filling the room, looping over the words _"And then I found me a lover who could play the bass, he's kinda quiet but his body ain't."_ It made Michael want to laugh harder because Calum played the bass as a hobby.

Ashton rolled over and reached over the edge of the bed, bringing his phone to his ear moments later.

"Hello? Hi Calum." Ashton smiled as the name graced his lips.

Michael rolled his eyes. Whenever it came to Calum, the dumb Kiwi, Ashton lit up like the fourth of July, like Christmas had came early. It made Michael a bit jealous but he understood that Ashton was a growing man and could make friends with whoever he wanted. But that didn't mean Michael couldn't still be jealous.

"What? Oh... He did? She did!? How? Oh wow... That poor kid. Tell him I said I love him would you? I'll be over in a while okay? Yup. Bye Cal." Ashton's face had gone serious when he'd started talking, but he smiled as a laugh broke through his lips.

"Yes, yes, now goodbye Calum. Yeah, bye!" He shouted with a giggle before ending the call.

"What was that all about?" Michael asked after Ashton settled down.

"Oh it was nothing. Calum and Luke just wanted to see me. Wanted to talk about some things." Ashton said as he dropped his phone on the bed.

Michael squinted his eyes at him, knowing there was more but he didn't push for more. One thing about Ashton is that he wouldn't _be_ Ashton if he didn't keep secrets of others to himself.

"Haaa well if that's all, wanna go get some food?" Michael asked, deciding to drop the subject.

"You mean do _I_ want to buy you food?" Ashton smiled sarcastically.

"Oh baby, you remembered! Boyfriend material." Michael laughed at his own joke.

"You're such a dweeb. C'mon, let's go get fat." Ashton said with a small flick to Michael's nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I really liked the idea of Briana being Ashton's first ever fling and also the idea that she's older than him. I LOVED the idea of him being her submissive too though. In the story he's supposed to have become much more dominant though after they "broke up" because he'd been a submissive for so long, and this sounds oddly fifty shades of grey all of a sudden. Oh shit...
> 
> ANYWAY, MOVING ON! So what did you think about Michael and his, ***pauses, clears throat, speaks in Crowley's voice*** FEELINGS?
> 
> I loved how this turned out. Love the idea that Michael really likes Luke but his pride is holding him back.
> 
> Men and pride. Lol. **{Not meant to offend anyone}**
> 
> Questions? Comments? Predictions? Drop a comment and/or kudos. It helps motivate me. Srsly.


	5. Plans Like Funeral Paperwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A decision is reached...

"Yeah. I want you to come now! I want to see my little kangaroo! Ashy! Ashto-" Calum whined into his phone mic, eyes widening as he yanked his phone away from his ear to glare at the screen.

"He hung up on me! That little punk hung up. On me! Me! Oh he is so going to get it when he gets here." Calum promised as he threw his phone down onto Luke's bedroom floor.

"Uhg you guys are so disgusting." Luke grumbled, a chuckle following after Calum sent him a bitch face.

"Well I'm sorry that I happen to have another amazing best friend. Is it illegal to have another? No-"

"Well to me it is. It's a _best friend_ , not a _bests_ friend. You only have one best friend. No more. Otherwise what the hell is the point of calling someone a _best friend?_ " Luke asked.

Calum just shook his head before getting up from where he was sat on Luke's floor and went to sit on his bed.

"Okay, so Ashton knows now that we're going to be going somewhere, we just need to figure out where.... you said they raised a lot of money for you yeah?" The half Scottish teen asked.

Luke nodded, his hand rubbing down his face.

"Do you know how much?" Calum asked.

Luke shook his head and then said, "I just know it was enough for at least the equivalent of two very expensive trips to anyplace I want to go. That's the main reason I want you and Ashton to come. Because there will be no need for two trips. And also because I just want you guys with me..." He whispered shyly.

Calum was silent for a moment, processing Luke's words. Then he looked at his friend and sighed.

"Awe Luke. You're killing me..."

Luke scoffed, yeah and he was literally killing himself. His body hated him so much that it was killing him. Life is so fucked up at times. What did he do to deserve this? His nose stung in a familiar way and to push that feeling away he bit down on the tip of his tongue. At least he could still feel things.

He sniffed and shook his head a little, shaking the emotions away.

"Well. If I'm being forced on this forsaken journey, we should figure out where we're going. Mom said I'll need to keep in touch with some doctors wherever I decide to go. That'll be a pain. Maybe I could get away with not going to any checkups..." Luke said while chancing a glance at Calum who was glaring at him through his eye lashes.

"Okay fine. I just want to at least enjoy wherever it is we go." He mumbled much to Calum's delight.

"Well, what did you have in mind? Someplace hot? Someplace cold? Mountains, rainforests, jungles-" Luke cut Calum off.

"Jungles? Really Calum? In my condition? Like they'd even have the tools to keep me alive." He said sarcastically.

Calum just continued on.

"Jungles, deserts, tundras, cities-"

Again, he was interrupted.

"I've always wanted to go to Louisiana... before I found out I had cancer of course... I always loved how it had some sort of magical feel to it... But then of course I wouldn't mind going to some big city.... Go see some museums. Admire the arts properly before I die. I want to go someplace where I can have every experience a person could hope to have before they die..." Luke finished quietly, his eyes looking remote and far away.

Calum stared intently at his best friend, amazed by how much Luke just revealed to him. It had been a while since he said anything too deep and meaningful. Then he quickly started to look up vacation spots on Google that resembled what Luke described.

"Well there's always New York, they're big on museums, and of course there's Vegas, but that's a bit overrated in my opinion. Then there's Japan. But everything is in Japanese so... Oo Italy would be cool! They're big on art and food and that would be lovely! You could meet a nice Italian girl, drink some whine and then have the best night of your life. It would be perfect." Calum started to smile half-heartedly throughout his speech, becoming more and more convinced that either Italy or France would be the perfect vacation spot.

Luke thought it over. In Vegas he could get into a whole buttload of mayhem and still be accepted, but in Italy, or France, he could really feel everything he'd wanted to.. Luke was kind of a sap when it came to love and sex. He was still a virgin for Pete's sake. But then again, Vegas could give him anything he wanted. Daily. Whether it be girls, drinks, or even drugs although he'd never take them.

"I think..." he paused.

"Vegas sounds really fun. Really cool. We could get drunk every night, high too. We could even get laid every night if we wanted too..." Luke said.

Calum's smile slowly faded away, replaced by an unreadable expression.

"But.. I will admit.." Luke started, "I think Italy sounds very nice also.. I mean you now how I am with things like love and all that sappy stuff."

He smiled at his dark haired friend who was smiling back at him now.

"I wanna go to Italy, Calum."

Calum squealed, throwing his hands up in the air as he yanked Luke into his arms. He squeezed the boy tightly and whispered sweet nothings into his hair, crying in joy.

"Thank you Luke! Thank you so much for trying!" Calum cried.

The younger of the two just gave a sad smile in return and cuddled into Calum's shoulder.

"I said I'd try didn't I? I promised." He laughed lightly.

"Yes I'm just surprised that you're cooperating so easily." Calum stated.

"Oh believe me, I'm really not. It's not like I'm doing this for me as much as for you and Ashton. Also wasn't he supposed to be coming over?" Luke asked with a small look of confusion.

Calum nodded. As if on cue, there was a knock on the bedroom door, making the two boys jump. They hadn't even heard Liz answer the front door.

"Come in." Luke beckoned.

The door opened a small fraction and in came Ashton. His hair was a curly mess, flopped over a bandana. Him and his headbands.

"Hey guys. Sorry I took so long, Michael was being a douche and took forever to eat. On purpose mind you. Then he begged me to get him ice cream after breakfast. And then I had to drop him back off at home. So sorry for the delay." He said shyly while coming to join the duet on the bed.

"Oh it's just fine Bubby! We were actually finally coming to a conclusion really. Oh Ashton." A huge grin spread across the fluffy haired boy's face.

"Oh Calum." Ashton replied.

"OH ASHTON!"

Luke dropped his head into his hands with a groan. Ashton and Calum did this pretty much every time they met up. It was so annoying now. They should just get together already. They probably would be together if only Calum wasn't so oblivious and Ashton wasn't _sooo_ into women. Yeah. Totally into women. Luke's seen the way Ashton has looked at Calum's ass on more than one occasion. He always blushed whenever Luke caught him staring. Tried to laugh it off, but Luke knew what was up.

"OH CALU-!"

"Oi would you two shut up!" Luke shouted as the two tried to answer each other.

Team Cashton burst into fits of laughter, high fiving each other as they giggled.

Ashton's laugh was most definitely adorable. But right now it was beyond annoying. So much so that Luke shoved him of the edge of the bed with the flat of his foot. Ashton's voice cut off mid giggle as he slid off the mattress with an audible _"thud."_ Calum, who was still chuckling from before, now fell flat on his back as he gasped for breath for boisterous laughs that were now filling the room.

"You are such an asshole this morning! You're just like Michael. You know what he tried to do to me this morning to wake me up? He tried to shove me off the bed too! But you actually succeeded!" Ashton cried from where he was now sat on the floor.

Luke gasped before responding.

"I am nothing like that nasty old git! He's an actual asshole." He growled.

Ashton only rolled his eyes and then tried to get up but slipped and fell flat on his butt again. Luke burst into a fit of chuckles too now, his eyes watering from his joy. Calum was right along with him in that area. After a few more minutes, Calum hiccuped loudly.

"Ow!" He whined as he tried to stop chortling.

More hiccups forced him to stop making any sounds at all. However, as Calum tried to shut up, Ashton glared at the Kiwi boy with something like smugness in his hazel eyes. The dark haired boy took a deep breath after another hiccup shook through him. He held it for about a minute before releasing the slow breath. With his hiccups now gone, and Luke's laughter completely dissipated, they could finally talk.

"Well. So..." Luke said awkwardly into the silence of the room.

"Well so Ashton, we came to a conclusion to Luke's, _problem_." Calum narrowed his eyes at the blonde next to him.

Ashton nodded eagerly, as if what just happened was now forgotten.

"Well, Luke said he'd like to go on a trip you know and well..."

Ashton waited, speaking when Calum didn't answer.

"Well what Cal?" He pestered.

"Well he wants to go to Italy." He said with finality.

The curly haired teen was silent for a moment before he smiled widely, tears filling his eyes. It was a rare thing for Ashton to cry. He's as manly as they come. Unless Calum was concerned but that's beside the point.

"Awe Luke. I'm so happy for you." Ashton whispered.

"He wants us to go with him..." Calum said suddenly.

Ashton flipped on him like a dime.

"Oh no. No, no, no, nonononono. No. This is a wish for you Luke, not me or Calum, but for you. I can't just come with you-"

Calum interrupted him, "Ashton, he needs us to come with him. He doesn't want to be by himself..."

Luke had gone silent, in both voice and body language. He was staring down at his hands that fiddled with a rogue string from his blanket. Waiting for a reaction.

"Calum I can't just.... it's for him, not me." He rushed in a deep voice.

"Nor me, but if he asks, who am I to deny him that?" Calum whispered back, voice strained.

Luke looked up at the two boys in front of him, waiting for an answer. He was really nervous for some reason. He watched Ashton war with himself, his face scrunching up and then relaxing in a sort of pattern until it finally humbled.

"If you want me to come with, fine. But I just, I feel bad..." He stated finally.

Luke nodded in agreement. He knew what that felt like. He felt like that everyday. Whenever he saw his mum he felt bad because in a way it was the same. He was born for his mother, for his father, and yet here he was. Dying for himself in a strange messed up way. His body was selfish, it clearly didn't want to be here but he did. He didn't want to die. Deep down the thought scared him. Scared him shitless.

"I just want you to be there with me. Not when the end actually happens, but before the end..." Luke said with sincerity that tore Calum and Ashton's hearts apart just a little bit more.

"We're here for you Penguin." Calum said while pulling the blonde into his arms.

"Yeah. We'll be there for you. You know we will." Ashton threw in, taking Luke's hand in his own, still on the floor.

He squeezed it lightly, a small sympathetic smile on his face.

Luke grinned against Calum's chest, a small broken sound leaving his throat against his will. Calum whimpered in response.

"Please don't cry Luke. I'll sob if you do." Calum plead.

Luke laughed at that, just barely managing to keep his emotions in order.

"I'm not crying. I promise." He said.

"Good." The Scottish boy said firmly.

They held each other in that embrace for a while before finally disengaging from one another.

"Well. If we're going to Italy, we should tell my mum and start packing." The blonde boy said.

"I'll tell your mum. Ashton, help Luke pack. Okay B R B fam." Calum said before walking out of the room.

Ashton clapped his hands together, speaking excitedly "Alrighty then. Let's get started!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should just fair warn, that we all know how this story must end. I'll warn when the last few chapters come I just want you guys to know.
> 
> This story is flowing better now and I actually feel proud of this. I write so much better in third person rather than first.
> 
> **Oh and just so you guys know ahead of time, I know little to nothing about Italy other than they are big on culinary arts and art in general. Lol. But yeah. Just an FYI.**
> 
> Anyhoo, questions? Comments? Predictions? Comment your thoughts if you had any and I will see you, in the next chapter!


	6. I'll Change My Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Hope y'all are okay with a Cashton chapter. Cause if not I'll pray for you.**
> 
> **Lol.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol you get, 2? 3? updates today since I've written them all out and posted them elsewhere but here. So I am finally getting around to posting them here. :)

After Calum and Ashton had figured everything out with Liz, they helped the youngest lad pack. Then they were off to their own homes.

Ashton was currently driving Calum home when he remembered Michael.

One thought had been going through his head ever since Luke mentioned Italy.

He wanted Michael to come...

Not to make the trip hell for Luke, but if he knew one thing for sure, it was that Michael needed to tell Luke how he felt.

Even if it was just a crush. All the time he’d known Luke, he’d seen the way he’d get a little awkward when Michael was nearby. He’d see the slightly dazed look in his eyes as he’d stare at the boy.

Whenever he questioned Luke about his friend though, he’d scoff and ask him in return why’d he’d even speak of Michael in his presence.

Calum disliked Michael as well, but if only he knew of Michael's attraction. Then maybe he'd be a little more accepting. Actually he'd probably full on hate him.

He was right.

"You want to have who come with us? Michael? Are you kidding right now? Please tell me you're kidding." Calum stated as he stared at his little kangaroo.

"Listen Calum it sounds like a disaster but please. Michael he-"

"He's a major dick. That's what he is." Calum growled.

"Look, Calum he.." Ashton paused, "Michael likes Luke..."

The words slipped out like a snake's hiss would. He'd just told Calum classified information and now the other boy was staring at him flabbergasted.

"WHAT!?" Calum screeched.

Ashton nodded his head as he stopped at a red light.

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm dreaming. This isn't real. Luke is perfectly fine and doesn't have cancer and when I wake up he and Michael will be back to hating each other like normal-OW! What was that!?" Calum cried when Ashton reached over and pinched him.

"You're not dreaming. This is real. Look, you might hate Michael a lot right now, but he really does care for Luke. He does." Ashton assured.

Calum scoffed.

"Oh sure. If he had liked him so much then why would he curse at Luke the first time he even talked to him?" He asked.

Ashton groaned and then said blankly, "Cal, he didn't mean to. Some douche pissed him off and when he spoke his words came out as an insult. He regretted it after he said it, but Luke didn't give him a chance to say he was sorry."

Calum just sat in shock.

"Wait, what was he even going to talk about... Do you know?" The puppy boy asked timidly.

"He wanted to flirt with Luke because he caught his eyes. That didn't go well though did it." Ashton replied.

Calum squirmed a little before throwing the most angering truth out there.

"Well that still doesn't excuse his past behavior since then. He's still a jackass." He said with an uncertain voice.

Ashton knew this was the part where Calum decided if he really hated his friend.

"Michaels a man of pride. That being said, he doesn't want to let his guard down around Luke if he is being rude to him. I'm not saying Luke is a dick, I'm just saying that as long as Luke hates him, Michael will pretend to hate him as well." Ashton said quietly.

"Well that doesn't solve anything! Luke will always hate Michael, and therefore vise versa. Ahg. This is so fucked up. It's even worse because I'm debating this. Worse still because I'm kind of wanting them to fall in love before Luke.... Before he says goodbye..." Calum whispered the last part.

It was as if the whole weight of the conversation had changed. It had changed. Calum didn't want to but he couldn't control the moisture that came to his eyes. He looked out the window, looking at the traffic pass in in front of them. The light turned green and Calum felt the car ease off the brake. He did however frown in confusion when they pulled into K-Mart's parking lot.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Calum asked in a shaky voice.

His eyes were still brimming with tears that had yet to be shed, but he tried not to let them fall. His shoulders shook and a small, animalistic sob escaped him. Calum brought his hands up to cover his mouth from embarrassment.

He had never once cried in front of Ashton. Never. This was something he'd hoped to stay clear of but clearly when he'd said what he said, it had triggered him.

The sounds didn't stop there though. He started to hiccup little sobs. It was killing Ashton.

"Calum? You okay?" He asked gently.

Calum nodded but then let out a full fledged sob. He covered his mouth to try to block the sounds but it didn't help hardly at all. Calum's breathing started to pick up and soon it sounded like he was hyperventilating.

"Calum? Calum look at me. Cal!" Ashton shouted out, trying to reach the boy who was sobbing through his breathes.

The Kiwi visibly flinched from the tone, making Ashton feel bad as he sat back.

The boy continued to cry heavily as he thought of Luke leaving them. He didn't mean to think like that, it just happened.

"He-He's going to d-die Ashton-he's gonna-ahaah-!" Calum gasped.

Ashton didn't think twice as he reached across the center council and pulled at the younger boy, trying to get him into his lap. He didn't know what else to do and this is what he did with his siblings whenever they got scared and panicked.

Calum helped him, using his feet to press against the passenger door so he could push himself into Ashton's lap. When he was finally in the older boy's lap he curled into his chest and started to inhale the strong, spicy, and musky smell that was Ashton Fletcher Irwin.

He fisted his hands into the boy's shirt, crying with full force now.

Ashton simply held him in his lap. He rested his chin on top of Calum's fluffy head, whispering things only the half Scottish boy could hear. He had his arms wrapped around his body which had seemed to shrink in his sorrow.

"..Calum, Calum, Calum..." Ashton started to repeat over and over.

Even though it wasn't anything too special, it started to comfort Calum. The teen's sobs slowly faded to sniffles.

Sniffling turned to peaceful silence after a while. Ashton reached forward and turned the key in the ignition, the car humming to life seconds later.

"Ash, I can move so you can-" Calum started with a gravelly voice.

"No. It's fine Calum." Ashton said as he changed gears into drive.

They rolled through the parking lot at the pace of a snail but so what? Sue them. Ashton turned off onto the road and started to head to his house, knowing full well that his mum wouldn't be home tonight and Harry and Lauren were both over at friends houses.

Calum looked up at Ashton as he drove, looking at his sharp jaw line in amazement. Then he looked up at his intense eyes. They were hazel, but on dark days they were more green, and on sunny days they appeared gold. He was handsome. But he also loved women.

Calum loved girls. He loved wide hips, boobs, long hair, and full lips. So why was he feeling like this? Why was he feeling such feelings of devotion toward his friend? Why was he feeling feelings of... of the most over used word in the entire world? Love...

He was so caught up in thinking about the blonde boy and his own feelings that he hadn't even realized that the car had stopped moving. Let alone to see they weren't at his house. What did break through his wall of thoughts though, were those hazel eyes looking down to meet his dark chocolate brown ones.

Calum opened his mouth to say something but Ashton pressed a finger against his lips. So he stayed quiet.

Ashton put the keys in his pocket after locking the car, and then opened the door. He carefully slid out of the vehicle, Calum still in his arms, and stood. After shutting and locking the door he headed up to his house which Calum finally recognized as Ashton's.

Ashton fumbled with the door key for a minute before finally getting it in the lock. The Kiwi felt bad because he was being treated so nicely and couldn't even do anything in return.

The door clicked shut and then they were striding through the darkness of the house. Ashton carried Calum bridal style up the stairs and into his room.

He laid Calum on the bed and turned to walk away--to sleep elsewhere for the night--when a hand reached for his arm. Ashton felt his eyes widen in shock from the tight grip on his wrist. It lessened when Calum seemed to realize what he'd done.

"Yes?" Ashton asked softly. He felt a small pain in his chest and he didn't really know why.

There was a growing feeling of need in his heart. A feeling of home that had been growing stronger with every time he was with the younger boy. He wasn't going to lie that he'd never looked at Calum's bum, because he had. And he'd been satisfied with what he saw.

While he stood there, head turned towards Calum where he lay on his bed, he felt a strong ache in his mind and heart. It felt like, like.. It was indescribable. It was there and it was getting stronger. He'd always been strictly into girls. Hell he thought he was _only_ into girls. But as he waited for an answer from Calum, he questioned himself.

"Stay... with me..."

Everything disappeared from his mind as Calum whispered those words. Everything but that burning desire to comfort and give devotion to the younger teen. Ashton slipped his wrist free of Calum's hand and then took it in his. Then he made Calum scoot over so he could climb in next to him.

When he finally got onto the bed, he quickly reached down to the foot of the neatly made bed and grabbed the thick blanket that lay there, pulling it over Calum and himself. Then he pulled the dark haired boy into his arms. Calum nuzzled into him a little, their entwined hands resting between them. They were then silent.

It was calming for them to listen to each other breathe, to hear their heartbeats become one. For them to be this close. _Finally.._

"Ashton..." Calum asked, breaking the calm silence.

"Hmm?" The honey-gold haired boy hummed.

Calum could just barely make out Ashton's collar bones from where he lay in the boy's arms.

His breath caught in his throat as he leaned forward. He felt Ashton tense up a little when he pressed his lips softly to his sternum, just over his heart. He could feel the strong beat of it thrum against his lips.

Ashton relaxed slowly, a sigh of relief filling the room. Calum then felt large hands take the sides of his face and tilt him to look upwards. He felt warm breath wash over his face, then it stopped and he could hear Ashton swallow.

"Is this okay?" Ashton asked quietly.

Calum nodded, feeling dumb for doing so because Ashton probably couldn't even see him. Then he felt even more dumb because Ashton could feel it since he was holding his face. He gasped when he felt unbelievably soft lips press against his own.

It was different from any other kisses he'd had. It was soft and sweet, close mouthed and chaste. But it felt unimaginable.... it felt so right. Calum felt his now closed eyes moisten as Ashton let one of his hands wander down to his throat where it ran over his Adams apple with just the fingertips.

Before he could stop himself, Calum dragged Ashton on top of him, to the resistance of none. He gasped between kisses, letting his jaw fall open so Ashton could slip his tongue into his mouth. They both moaned into the kiss as they finally got to taste each other.

Ashton tasted like mint toothpaste, along with a kind of spicy cinnamon. Calum immediately decided that he loved it.

The younger boy let his legs open up so Ashton could now lay between them. He felt a small spark of arousal when Ashton nibbled on his bottom lip. Calum ground his hips upwards involuntarily, not meaning to tear a moan from the curly haired teen. Ashton kissed him again, roughly this time. His voice was deeper and he seemed more animal than human at this point. So it amazed Calum when Ashton had the strength to pull away.

Calum arched up and tried to kiss him again but Ashton pulled himself up before he could.

"Cal, we can't. Not now anyways. We just, we just can't right now." Ashton panted.

Calum whined but smiled anyway. He was happy now. He understood those feelings he had earlier a little better now.

"Okay. I just got excited. Heh." The darker boy chuckled.

He wrapped his arms around Ashton's head before burying his face into his curly hair. He inhaled the fresh, citrus smell of the soft strands, humming in contentment.

"So, do you think we could put all that money we saved up to use?" Ashton asked quietly. He seemed nervous.

Calum was still quite happy so he thought about it in a moment.

There is two ways this idea could go. It could ruin Luke's last leg of life, or it could make it the best damn last leg ever.   
He decided to pick the brighter of the two, even if he wasn't entirely one hundred percent sure.

"Okay Ash. You can talk to Ass Face tomorrow." He said happily.

Ashton giggled at the nickname before tugging Calum closer to him. They fell asleep with their legs tangled together, hands clasped once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I loved this. Not even lying. I was debating on even making Cashton happen this fast but, it seemed necessary to the plot. >:D
> 
> Seeing as team Cashton will be trying to help Luke and Michael get their heads out of their asses and kiss already.
> 
> So yeah hope you liked it even though it wasn't Muke.
> 
> Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Drop a comment, and kudos! Please! I encourage you to!!


	7. My Name Is Calum Thomas Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cashton _"talk"_ to Michael, and then some. ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg the name of this chapter. XD

"So would you want to or not?" Ashton asked into his phone.

Calum lay frowning next to him. He had said he was okay with Michael coming, but he was sort of regretting it.

"Listen, I like Luke and all. Like he's cute and stuff... But do you really think it's a good idea to have us on the same plane together? And then the same continent? Well we're already on the same continent, but that doesn't matter. What I mean is, are you sure?" Michael asked softly.

"Yes you asshole! Huhp-!" Calum smacked a hand over his mouth, not even meaning to say anything.

Ashton looked at the Kiwi with huge eyes, mouth falling open in shock.

"Eh-Ash who was that?" Michael asked with a hint of annoyance.

Ashton just looked at Calum.

"Um, it wasn't anyone, nope no one." Ashton played dumb.

"Oh it was _'not no one'_. It was someone. Who was it? More importantly why was it a dude? Oh Ashton, are you messing around finally? You naughty man. So who is this kid? They sound like a bit of an ass." Michael mumbled not to quietly.

Calum gasped before retorting, "Excuse me? You're the bigger asshole out of us. My name is Calum Thomas Hood. And I know about your little crush on my best friend now, so unless you want to be blackmailed I suggest you learn some manners. Sheesh. And yes Ashton is with a guy. Consider us boyfriends!" Calum said firmly with an adorable nod of his head.

Then he looked at Ashton with a shy gaze.

"You uh, you don't mind that do you?" He asked.

Ashton was a little speechless but he shook his head. Then he smiled and leaned forward to kiss his _boyfriend_ on the forehead.

"Wait, Calum!? As in Luke's little Kiwi friend? The little bitch who despises me!?" Michael gasped.

"Yes. I'm not a bitch." Calum barked.

"Oh like you're totally not. Always glaring at me-Wait, you know what!?" Michael screeched.

"I know that you think my best friend is hot. So yeah I can blackmail you. So I suggest you learn to be nice." Calum growled.

Ashton giggled. He couldn't help it. One, Calum was managing to shut Michael up, and two, Michael was actually listening.

"Wait hold on. I-" Michael stuttered.

"Do you want to come or not? Believe it or not but I think Luke might, _MIGHT_ , like you a little bit too. Mind you I said might. So do you want to or not?"

"Yes..?"

Calum beamed, "Great! Then it's all settled! Get packed we leave tomorrow at 9 a.m. Bye asshole!" Calum grinned as he hung up on the black haired boy.

"Well that went well. Surprisingly enough." Calum said happily as he rolled over, throwing a leg over Ashton's hips.

Ashton was two years older than him but was still in school. He got held back because he failed three classes. It wasn't really his fault though. He'd had a very long depression period and that affected him greatly. So he got held back even when he had tutoring, very much against his will. Calum looked down at the bracelets around Ashton's left wrist.

His eyes stung a little as he remembered why he wore those bracelets. He looked down at Ashton, who was looking up at him. Then he reached down and took his wrist in his hand and brought it up to examine. He used his other hand to pull the bracelets off, catching how Ashton tensed and took a sharp breath.

He let the bracelets fall onto the mattress before he leaned down a little, bringing the honey-blonde's wrist up to his face. He pressed his lips to the scars just barely visible on the soft, thin skin there.   
He felt Ashton start shaking as he left small kisses on the skin of his wrist.

"Calum.." Ashton plead softly.

He was looking up at the ceiling now, fighting the internal pain of his past because Calum was so beautiful.

"I'm your friend, so I feel like I am allowed to say this. I love you Ash. And I don't want you to say that it's too soon because it's never too soon for us, because it's true. I do love you. More than just friends. I love you Ashton. So much... and after last night, it's burning inside me because of how true it is." Calum finished, a smile spreading across his face, reaching his eyes with adorable eye smiles.

Ashton giggled and pulled the boy down so he could kiss him. The kiss was soft and gentle, like slow moving water.

They pulled away and then laughed, Calum burying his face into Ashton's neck as he chuckled.

"I love you too, Cal Pal." He laughed when he felt the younger boy nip at his neck at the name.

"That's as bad as calling your boyfriend Bro." The fluffy haired boy mumbled.

"Okay then. I will call you, Baby. You like that? Or is that too sexual?" Ashton asked timidly.

"Hmm.. I like it. I just don't know if you want Luke and Michael to know yet.."

Ashton nodded. And then shrugged.

"Let's out ourselves when we leave from Italy. We should go to... Venice last. It's the most romantic place because of the canals. Well, then again there's Rome.. the capital city. I don't know. We should wait though. Just for a little while." Ashton whispered.

Calum nodded in agreement before sitting up in Ashton's lap.

"We should get you packed... we are leaving tomorrow... thank God. I want to be there for as long as possible.." Calum said.

"C'mon Love. Let's go." Calum beckoned as he crawled off the edge of the bed and walked over to Ashton's closet.

Ashton groaned but got up.

"I so deserve a massage when we get to Italy tomorrow." He whined.

Calum smirked and nodded.

"That and a nice treat from your amazing boyfriend of two days." He said while sticking his tongue in and out of his cheek in a very obvious way.

Ashton blushed and then pushed past the boy, throwing clothes on him seconds later from embarrassment.

"Oh come on you know you want me to!" Calum yelled from behind the shirt over his face.

"Buy me dinner first!" Ashton replied.

"Fine. But then I'm doing that. During your massage. You'll be nice and relaxed afterwards." He said matter-of-factly.

"Calum?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut the hell up and help me pack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that it seems as if I'm making this more about Cashton rather than Muke. It's getting there I swear. I just need some fillers. Lol. Sorry Cashton I love you but, you're just helping me rn.
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> COMMENT! KUDOS! YOU READERS ARE ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! AND KNOW THAT I CARE FOR YOU AND WANT YOU TO LOVE YOURSELVES!


	8. Planes, Trains, & Assholes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be an interesting flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fucking sorry it took a million years to update but here a long waited chapter is. 
> 
> I'm now officially getting help writing this story from @AFMRadios (ON WATTPAD! She doesn't have an account here yet) bc she seriously wanted to help me with it so I could get more story out there. So here it is. 
> 
> Okay the name of the chapter is literally killing me in the funny way. I'm hilarious. XD I'm a 90's kid so it will make sense to 90's kids. Lol.

**7:00 a.m.**

Luke groaned as the sound of his alarm bleeped repeatedly. He rolled over and smashed his hand down onto the snooze button, swearing he heard it crack from the force. Then he sat up and sighed.

 _Italy_.

He gasped and looked back at his clock.

**7:00 a.m.**

He heard the front door swing open and he could imagine who it was. Luke started to panic. He was going to Italy. Italy! He covered his face with his hands as he breathed quickly.

"Luke, calm down. It's fine, you don't need to freak out. Your mum will be home when you come back, you'll be fine. You'll have Ashton and Calum." He said to himself just as the door to his dark room whined open.

Calum's head poked through, the blue-purple light of the morning cast against his skin. He smiled shyly as he slipped into the room, coming over to crawl under the blankets.

"You're awake then. That's good." Calum said into the silence.

Luke groaned. Then he allowed himself to fall onto his friend.

"Oof! Luke... I know you're tired, but we have to go.. Ashton and--Ashton is meeting us at the airport." Calum quickly corrected himself, thanking the Gods that Luke was still too sleepy to notice his mistake.

"I don't want to gooo-" Luke started.

"Yes you do. C'mon. I'll take your suitcase down to the car and then I'll come back for you. Okay?" The boy asked sounding slightly tired but excited nonetheless.

Luke groaned but murmured a small yes anyways. Calum jumped up then and quickly turned on Luke's bedside lamp.

Then he was grabbing the deep grey suitcase that lie next to the bed and he was heading out. Luke heard the door shut and he felt a huge sigh of exhaustion leave him. He felt so tired.

He was so tired that he didn't even realize that Calum had came back. He hadn't even realized Calum was helping him dress in day clothes. By the time he was being dragged downstairs, he was already almost back asleep. By the time he reached the car, he was out.

*** * ***

"When did they say they were gonna be here?" Michael asked after he and Ashton parked in the airport lot.

Ashton just shrugged.

"Calum sent me a text a moment ago saying he and Luke were on their way. His mum is driving them since she works in the mornings. Mrs. Lovely Hood, such an amazing woman she is. Plus Luke didn't want to have to wake up his mum who doesn't work till the afternoons. So yeah. Poor lad. Calum had to pretty much drag him out of the house." Ashton shook his head lightly.

Michael just looked out the window at those words.

"He really is beautiful ain't he?" Michael asked with fond.

Ashton smiled and then chuckled.

"Yeah, I suppose he is."

"Hey, speaking of which, are you and Calum, really a thing?" The black haired boy asked in all seriousness.

Ashton sighed. Then smiled, fond written all over his face.

"Yeah. We are. We're gonna surprise Luke with it afterwards. We just wanted to wait a little before we told him anything. You know?"

Michael nodded in understanding. He knew what it was like to want to surprise people with a relationship. Hell that's how it'd been with Abi-Bitch. Thank _God_ he was gone from her.

"Well, we could probably go get our passports checked and stuff while we wait. I mean we still have to wait for them to get here anyway." Michael offered.

Ashton looked around for a minute before shrugging.

They got out of the car, locking the doors after getting their luggage out. Then they headed inside the airport, passports in hand.

*** * ***

"Luke..... Luke... Luke! LUKE!"

Luke jerked, his body tensing up entirely as Calum's voice scared him out of his slumber.

"What?" Luke groaned, before seeming to remember where he was.

"Come on, we're here. We have to go. Our plane leaves in about an hour." Luke groaned, his head lolling like he had no muscles to keep it up on his own. His forehead banged against the window, and he jerked up once again.

He noticed the sheet of blue upon the sky that was stained by a few clouds and he wished he could just sleep until the sky became as dark and consuming as a black hole. Just like his life currently was.

“Luke,” Cal sighed, not wanting to sound whiney. This trip was for his friend, not him.

It was to help Luke and that asshole Michael--though he’d rather not admit he ever helped the dick--get over their issues, shove Michael’s pride up his ass and make Luke happy for once. Calum knew he needed to do everything in his power to get Luke off his butt and onto the plane. His friend needed this trip, even if he didn’t want it at the moment.

“Do I have to go find Ash so he can help me drag you onto the plane?” Calum asked with a raised brow.

“Just leave me,” Luke whined.

“This trip to Italy is not for me, Luke. It’s not for me or Ashton, it’s for you!”

Luke’s eyes were wide. He’d never heard Calum talk in such a stern voice. It kinda made Luke wanna shrink into a corner like a young child, then dissipate from everyone’s memories so he wouldn’t have to be such a problem for them anymore. It might be easier if he just dissipated from everyone’s memories right now. At least then he wouldn’t have to risk hurting them when he’s gone.

The Kiwi boy pulled Luke into a tight, but comforting embrace.

Sighing, he said, “I didn’t mean to say it in that tone Lukey. It’s just that…” his voice cracked and he took a deep breath before continuing.

“This trip is supposed to be for you, and there’s no point in Ash and I going if you won’t. We just want you to be happy, because we… we haven’t seen that lately.” Cal pulled back, wiping his eyes like he didn’t want Luke to know he was crying.

“I’ll get the suitcases. You just…” he paused for a minute, giving a sympathetic smile, “try to get out of the car. Preferably, without dying.”

Luke nodded, trying to give a genuine smile, but it was weighed down with the knowledge of the reality of his situation. He struggled for a moment to open his door, but it finally swung open with Luke nearly being sent to the ground. Mrs. Hood caught him in time and he smiled up at her shyly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Hood.” She has treated Luke like her own son since they first met, he really liked how loving she was.

“Oh, Luke Honey. We’ve been over this many times, its Joy.” It was nice to know that if you were family to her son or daughter then you were family to her as well. You just had to make sure not to do anything that betrayed that relationship. Mrs. Hood-- _Joy_ \--pulled Luke into a warm embrace. She had a fond smile on her face when she finally released him.

“Have a safe trip, darling.” She then turned to her son, who had the suitcases at his feet and hugged him as well.

“And you make sure he enjoys the trip, and don’t go getting into trouble.” Joy said with a small ruffle of the Kiwi’s thick, straightened hair.

“Yes mum,” Calum replied, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.

“Bye,” she said before Luke and Calum disappeared into the airport.

*** * ***

The airport was teeming with people, making it impossible for Michael to see if the Kiwi boy or--more importantly--Luke was coming. He was practically spinning on his heels, looking every which direction for the familiar blonde quiff and blue eyed boy.

It was only when he saw Ashton approaching that he sat down, tapping his fingers anxiously on the arm of his chair.

Ashton handed Michael the coffee he had said he didn’t want, but had gotten anyways.

A smirk was on his face and Michael just wanted to smack it off. He didn’t know why he was getting so annoyed by his friend, but he was. It was as if Ash knew something he didn’t, and he despised being left in the dark. Especially if in that dark lurked the one and only Luke Hemmings.

“Calm down, Michael,” Ashton said with a chuckle.

“They’ll get here soon enough, and will you stop tapping your fingers? You’re gonna make me nervous.” The blonde said, his face becoming more serious.

“I’m not tapping my fingers,” Michael replied, completely oblivious to the fact that he was, in fact, tapping his fingers nervously. Ashton made a gesture to his fingers drumming up and down on the arm of his chair. His eyebrows furrow when noticing this nervous tendency and he quickly pulled his hand into his lap to stop the involuntary movements.

“Just remember to put your pride aside for once, or else you’re never gonna have a shot with Luke. He’ll hate you as long as you pretend hate him. You started this entire situation. Even if you didn’t mean to, and you have to get yourself out. Calum and I can only do so much to help you.” Ashton's tone leveled low enough to be heard over the people in the station.

Michael scoffed, “I’m surprised the Kiwi’s even bothering to help. He hates my guts purely based on the fact that Luke hates me.”

Michael glared at his shoes, noticing his leg was now bouncing up and down to ease his nerves. His gaze shifted over to Ashton and noticed that the boy was smirking and shaking his head lightly. The black haired boy immediately stopped shaking his leg.

“Shut up,” He mumbled, feeling the teasing words come from Ash, even if he wasn’t really saying anything.

“I didn’t say anything,” Ashton laughed in mock innocence.

“No, but you were thinking it!” He snapped, only making Ash laugh even harder.

_‘Why am I so nervous? God, I feel so helpless…. Vulnerable. It’s awful! Why the fuck do I have to be so damn in love with the one boy who doesn’t, nor would want to, love me back? Stupid Luke and his beautifully styled quiff, adorable nose, and blue eyes that somehow appear different in certain settings. Luke and his well built body, broad shoulders and all, and his legs…. His fucking perfect legs. I would really like to get ahold of those thighs--OH MY GOD! No! Bad Michael! But God, he’s so damn attractive.’_

Michael realized Ashton was watching him with a questioning look. Realizing he was blushing, he quickly looked away. He didn’t want to tell Ash what he was thinking about. Even though he typically would have no problem with telling Ashton these sorts of things, he felt something different in his friends mood and it made him hesitant to say anything to him.

“What the _**hell**_ is he doing here?”

Both Ashton and Michael leapt up from their seats in surprise. Only to be met by the heat of Luke’s glare.

“You didn’t _tell_ him I was coming!?” Michael hissed to Ashton in a harsh whisper. “Forget it, I’ll just walk myself home, thanks.”

Ashton grasped his friend’s arm, and shook his head.

“You need to come. If you don’t then you may be passing up the only opportunity to tell him the truth.” He made sure only Michael could hear him when he spoke.

 _‘He hates me! It would’ve been better if you hadn’t asked me to come in the first place!’_ Michael wanted to argue, but he kept quiet, kept himself planted to the ground he was standing on. He hated being compliant, but sometimes it ended up being worth it. He just hoped it would be worth it this time.

“Does someone want to explain why he’s here?” Luke asked again, clearly getting annoyed with how unresponsive Ashton and Calum were. His cheeks were tinted red just under his eyes in what could have only been irritation and barely concealed anger.

Calum and Ashton shared a knowing look, as if prompting the other to say something first, but neither wanted to say anything. Neither wanted to be the first to tell Luke why Michael--his least favorite person in the world--was going with them to Italy. It wasn’t their place to tell Michael’s secret to Luke. The entire point in Michael coming was for him to finally tell Luke, and see if he and/or Luke could work this stupid thing out, like adults.

Luke kept his glare focused on Michael as he waited for an answer. It was this that made Michael want to fade into the sea of people behind them. Their eyes locked and--even though Luke was glaring--Michael found it hard to pull his gaze away. It was all uncomfortable, but he couldn’t help it.

_‘I’m hopeless. All Luke can ever do is give me a look like he’s seething. At the same time, it looks like there’s something else underlying that....’_

There can't be, though. Luke hated Michael, and Michael _"hated"_ Luke. That's just how they were. Although that's not what Michael had planned on things being back in the beginning...

"Fine, don't tell me why the fuck this asshole is here! Just get me the hell to Italy before I walk out of here and go find a bridge to jump off of." Luke growled, his nose doing that adorable nose scrunching thing.

**_The Nose Scrunch TM._ **

Ashton and Calum looked at each other with slightly confused expressions. They had both expected Luke to say something more along the lines of, "There is no way is hell I'm going on this trip if that asshole is gonna be there."

Luke's reaction kind of made Ashton smile on the inside, actually. Even if it was killing Mikey on the inside.

Michael tried to keep from frowning at being called an asshole, but it really did hurt. Luke really knew where to hit him where it hurt and he didn’t even seem to realize it. It kinda made Michael want to cry, but he didn’t. Because his pride-- _or his ego_ \--was too large for that.

 _‘I might as well take a blade, and let it glide across my skin. In the end, it would be leaving scars either way.’_ Michael thought to himself as he closed his eyes and rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose.

This was going to be an interesting flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions or comments leave one below and I'll see them. Love you. I hope you can still love me....


	9. Don't Say a Word at All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The flight ensues...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, glad to say this duo has finally gotten it together and finished writing and editing a chapter for you all. This is a short chapter, but at least it's an update. So you can all feel ecstatic about us finally getting this story going again. I hope you all really enjoy this chapter, seeing as it was really a joy to put together.  
>  \--LydiaTyde

They had finally boarded the plane, Luke glaring at the back of his seat because he was stuck sitting next to The Asshole. The stupid black haired boy also stole the window seat before Luke could get to it, but this didn’t bug him so much because it meant he could  _ “accidentally” _ trip Michael whenever the douche needed to get up.

Luke found himself staring at Michael. The black haired boy had earbuds in, listening to some music on his iPod with his eyes focused on whatever was outside the window. His hair looked unkempt, but soft and it kinda made Luke wanna run his fingers through it.

_ ‘Shut up!’ _ Luke yelled at himself in his mind.

Michael turned to him with a glare on his face. That’s when Luke realized he must’ve accidentally said the words aloud, and Michael didn’t have his music turned up loud enough for it to go unnoticed.

“I didn’t say anything!” Michael growled in annoyance.

“Good! Don’t say a word at all!” Luke snapped back.

“Fine!” Michael turned back to the window, before saying, “Like I’d want to talk to you anyways.”

Luke bit his bottom lip, honestly a bit surprised and a bit hurt. One, because he hadn’t actually expected the kitten boy to comply with his demand for silence between them. He had honestly expected some sort of smartass remark, which he kinda got but not to the extent he thought he would. Two, for some reason what Michael had said was getting to his head. It annoyed him to death, because he didn’t even like the damn red lipped bitch. Let alone was he able to care about the guy in any way, shape, or form. And, much less care about what he had to say.

The plane was just taking off when Luke gasped at a hand taking a tight hold on his wrist. He looked over to Michael; the boy’s knuckles and face were paler than he typically would look, leaving his lips even redder than normal. Michael was slumped down in his seat, his eyes closed tightly, and the music now up loud enough for Luke to hear it through the small rubber earbuds. His wrist wasn’t released until the plane had evened out, and Luke chuckled at the thought that Michael was actually afraid of something.

 

Luke’s heart was skipping every other beat as he continued to watch the kitten boy, his skin still burning from where Michael had just been holding on so tightly. His hair was dark in contrast to his pale skin. It was a jet black. 

 

_ ‘Kind of like your heart.’ _ A smirk crossed his face at the thought, and he still couldn’t help but watch him. Luke’s eyes drifted down to Michael’s full, red lips. They looked so soft, and it amazed the blond boy that Michael’s lips naturally appeared red.

 

_ ‘Just like how you can’t hide that natural blush that arises whenever I call you by that pet name.’ _ Luke’s smirk broadens at the thought that he has at least some way to get to the asshole.

 

_ ‘Why do you always get nervous when I call you kitten? No, it’s not nervousness... It can’t be. I don’t understand why it would be. It’s embarrassment and maybe hatred, but I always feel like there’s a spark lit in your eyes when I call you by that pet name.  _ **_Ugh_ ** _! Why do I even  _ care _? You hate me! The first thing you said to me was an insult, and that was back when I actually debated on flirting with you or asking you out. Back before we had even been acquaintances or enemies, such as we are now. God, why did I ever.... The first thing you said to me was…. And I….  _ **_UGH_ ** _!’ _

 

A flash of green brings Luke away from his thoughts, and he quickly realizes that Michael’s gaze was on him now. He looked annoyed, but the blond didn’t really care. He just looked away, trying to hide a blush that had arisen to his cheeks. 

 

Michael scoffed, and, much to Luke’s surprise, didn’t bother to make any snarky comment.

 

_ ‘What, kitten? You’ve got no comment? No dumbass remark to make? The perfect red lipped, black haired boy has nothing to say, for once in his life? _

 

_ ‘I’ve often wondered what it’d be like to kiss those beautiful, red lips. They look so soft, and it looks so much like he’s wearing lipstick, but at the same time it doesn’t. I bet if you kissed him you’d feel like he’d leave behind a lipstick stain. Only, that lipstick stain is invisible, because he doesn’t need to wear lipstick to make his lips look that kissable.’ _

 

Luke’s eyes widened as he realized what just went through his mind, and he mentally beat himself up for it. He didn’t understand why he would have such thoughts. He doesn’t even like Michael. Not anymore, because those sort of feelings were tossed out as soon as the kitten boy first spoke to him. Everything Luke ever once felt for him was gone, or so he kept telling himself.

 

_ ‘Maybe in another world, in another verse, we could’ve been something…. Something else… something like, I don’t know, just something. But let’s face it, Michael hates me and I hate him, and even if we didn’t… he is still an ass and I wouldn’t want anything to do with him.’ _

 

Luke pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, trying to ignore the way his stomach was churning at that thought. He looked over at the kitten boy from the corner of his eye, and watched as he drummed his fingers against the arm of the chair to the beat of whatever song he had on. His music had been turned down a bit since the plane took off, but Luke could still hear it.

 

When the song ends and the next begins, Michael stops tapping his fingers. He sits frozen, like he’s stuck holding his breath. Luke just barely catches the little flash of green eyes when Michael casts a glance in his direction.

 

Pretending to be focused on Ashton and Calum in the seats ahead of them, Luke looked away. Hoping that he hasn’t been caught-- _ again _ \--staring at Michael. After the older boy looked away, Luke actually took the time to notice what song was playing from the device Michael was clutching in his hand. It was ‘Not Now’ by Blink-182.

 

_ ‘Help me, I’m scared please show me how to fights this. _

_ God has a master plan, _

_ And I guess, _

_ I am in his demand. _

_ Please save me this time I cannot run, _

_ And I’ll see you when this is done, _

_ And now I have come to realize, _

_ That you are the one who’s left behind. _

 

_ ‘Please stay until I’m gone. _

_ I’m here hold on to me I’m right here, _

_ Waiting.’ _

 

Luke is well aware of the burning sensation in his lungs as he releases a breath he hadn’t really realized he had been holding in the first place. The blond pretends to not notice the worried looks both Ashton and Calum cast back at him as he seemingly chokes on every breath. He swears even Michael spared him another glance, but he ignored that as well. Luke just tuned back into the song Michael had playing.

 

_ ‘I see, a light it feels so good, _

_ And I’ll come back soon just like you would. _

_ It’s useless, my name has made the list, _

_ And I wish, I gave you one last kiss _

 

_ ‘Please stay until I’m gone. _

_ I’m here hold on to me I’m right here, _

_ Waiting and take _

_ My one last breath, and don’t forget, _

_ That I will be right here, _

_ Waiting.’ _

 

Luke leans back in his seat, attempting to fall asleep so this hell would seemingly not last as long as it was going to. His head was throbbing and his body was aching despite the numbing sensation he felt pulsating from his heart. It pulsed living, dying blood out into his limbs like the cancer that continuously spread throughout him. While his thoughts began to drift to subconscious things, he wondered if the cancer wasn’t just in his cells anymore, but in his heart as well.

 

_ ‘Who will show me how to fight this? Who will be there for me at the end of the road? Who will wish to give me one last kiss? Who will stay with me until I’m gone? Because even in this world of Kiwis, kangaroos, and kitten boys… I could never feel more alone.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Comments? Questions?  
> Honestly hope you didn't find it absolute garbage.  
> Anyways... Kudos if you liked it!
> 
> We love you!


	10. Strangers, Perfect Pretenders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The suffering done on flight one is finally over... or is it....?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies!  
> Glad to say we finally have another chapter for you all. I know it’s been a while since we’ve posted, and I’m sorry to those who have been anticipating another chapter and had to wait this long. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter, and hopefully we’ll have another one for you soon.
> 
> —Lydia J.

Michael huffed a sigh of relief as the plane finally landed again.

 

He hated flying. Well, okay, so that was the first time he’s ever actually been on an airplane, but he still hated it it. It didn’t help that they had been in the air for fifteen hours. Plus they had another seven hours ahead of them on a different plane. He wasn’t even sure where the hell they were at. A voice over the P.A. system told him, Abu Dhabi. Like he could care less.

 

The memory of when he had accidentally grabbed onto Luke’s arm instead of the armrest of his seat popped back into his head and he internally groaned. He’d almost had a heart attack, but pretended he hadn’t even noticed his mistake. Michael still has yet to forget the way his skin burned from the lingering feeling of being able to hold onto Luke for the first time. He had regretted when he finally let go, but if he hadn’t then the boy would’ve started cussing him out. Luke would’ve probably assumed Michael was doing it on purpose, just to piss him off.

 

_ ‘If only you knew, Luke. You’d have an aneurism.’ _

 

Then when he finally let go his stomach began lurching every few seconds, as if attempting to send him flying to the bathroom at the back of the plane before he could hurl his lunch onto the back of Calum’s seat. Not that he would’ve minded getting Calum’s seat all disgustingly vomit covered—the prick deserved it—but he wouldn’t have wanted to suffer a fourteen hour flight with the stench of his own upchucked previous meals stuck floating around in the air. It probably would’ve only made him more nauseous. It would’ve been a million times more hell on top of the hell he suffered just from having to sit next to Luke  _ fucking _ Hemmings for the past fourteen hours.

 

Michael rubbed at his tired eyes, head throbbing from the inability to sleep a wink throughout the entire damn flight. He’d managed to doze, but then a baby had started crying and he had given up at that point. 

 

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone to check the time, and groaned when he realized it was still set to the time it’d be back home. Home; with his bed, his guitar, and where he could sleep in however long he damn well pleased because it’d be 12a.m. on a Saturday morning. When he got around to looking outside, he noticed how it was orange outside, showing the evening sky over a city of multiple colours. Tall buildings in the distance glittered the sun back into his eyes, making him squint.

 

_ ‘If it’s twelve back home, what time is it here? What’s the time difference? Eh… the fuck if I really care. I just wanna get onto the next plane and into the hotel waiting for us in Italy and collapse for a couple hours.’  _

 

Michael grimaced when he caught sight of a digital clock hanging down from the ceiling which read, 5:10 p.m. It was as if it was mocking his tiredness. Michael shoved his phone back in his pocket, and finally realized that the iPod he still had clutched in his other hand had long since fallen silent. He pressed the power button multiple times, and--with slight aggravation--jabbed his index finger on the black screen that absolutely refused to light up again. 

 

How long had it been like this? He hadn’t even realized his music had stopped playing at any point in time. Where had his mind been these past hours? It certainly couldn’t have been on thoughts of a certain penguin boy with blond hair that was styled in a perfect, beautifully messy quiff accompanied with eyes that could pierce your soul. Just as they had pierced his, allowing many  _ undesired _ emotions to stir deep inside.

 

Green eyes fell upon the still sleeping blond boy that had sat next to him the entire time. Luke hadn’t slept the entire time, he’d tried to in the first few hours of the flight but eventually got onto his phone. After a few hours of that he had finally rolled over and slept, like the baby that had started crying. It was amazing he could have even slept through that. 

 

As he stared, Michael couldn’t help but notice how at peace Luke appeared. It’s like he was never broken by the fact that he had gotten cancer, but then again… he  _ was _ in remission, so he wouldn’t need to worry about that anymore.  _ Would he? _ Michael knew there was a chance that the blue eyed boy’s cancer could come back later in life, but that’s something that wouldn’t have to be worried about until it came.  _ If _ it came.

 

_ ‘If I ever learned that Luke--after suffering through it once and finally being in remission--had gotten cancer again… I think I would literally die. I couldn’t stand to watch his world fall apart like it almost did last time. Sometimes I just wanna beat myself to death for being such a man of pride, but fuck it if I’m gonna lose my pride over one boy. Especially one who hates me to hell and back.’  _

 

Michael felt his lips pull back into a sharp smirk that would scare anyone glancing around.  _ ‘Not that I wouldn’t be with him if I had the chance, but that’s just it. I don’t have that chance. Yeah, ‘cause you fucking screwed yourself over you idiot. You knew you shouldn’t have opened your damn mouth after what that prick had said to you that day, but of fucking course you did anyways.’ _

 

Grabbing his bag from the overhead compartment, Michael’s eyes hunted the sea of people shuffling to get off the plane for the familiar mop of honey-gold curls that belonged to the kangaroo Ashton Irwin. He even hunted for the floofy haired Kiwi boy, but hadn’t managed to find either. He groaned, realizing they must have headed off together and were probably somewhere in the airport waiting for Luke and him to join them. Or, maybe they ran off to find a bathroom stall to make out in.

 

_ ‘God knows what they were doing before they called me up to see if I wanted to tag along on this God forsaken trip.’  _ Michael shook his head at the thought, but still couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips at knowing that someone could make his kangaroo happy and give him the lovin’ he deserves. Not saying that Michael fully trusted the kiwi boy to not fuck up and wind up breaking his little kangaroo’s heart—in which he’d have to be the one to hold his friend together—but at least it’s something for Ashton to have. No matter how long it actually lasts him.

 

Looking back down at the penguin boy--who was managing to sleep through the clamor of bustling bodies and chattering people--Michael considered leaving him there and heading out himself. Michael smirked at the idea, but thought against it. It’d only add to the mounds of reasons Luke had to hate him and Michael already makes things worse on a daily basis as it was.

 

The longer he watched him, the more his heart ached with the knowledge that the striking sleeping beauty would never be his. 

 

_ ‘Luke, the Gentle Giant.’ _ Michael smiled at the thought, allowing himself the moment to imagine life with the other boy in it.

 

Michael would enjoy waking up with the sleeping blond boy in his arms, and soft tufts of that blond quiff to nuzzle his nose into. He would love to hold him till those blue eyes--which are as consuming as the ocean itself--would finally look up at him fondly while he blinked the bleariness from them. He would love to kiss those beautifully pink lips every morning, so he could find the strength to get out of bed without feeling a constant weighted fear on his chest. A fear that came from dreading the fact that he will see the beautiful boy again, but only to say cruel things to him. A fear that came from knowing every dumbass remark he’d make to the cute blond would hold absolutely no truth. But the way he’d deliver it would make the penguin boy believe it anyways.

 

Reality sure just loves to kick him in the heart.

 

_ ‘Fuck me! Fuck pride! Fuck EVERYTHING! Why does life have to be so fucked up?’  _ Michael sighs, running his hands through his hair as anxiety and stress seemingly collapsed on top of him, but with a smirk he leaned forward and flicked the end of Luke’s nose.

 

Emotions that had threatened to spill were once again shoved down into the depths of black and grey that made up Michael Clifford. He chuckled at how the blond swatted at his hand and scrunched his nose in the most adorable--but clearly--annoyed way. His heart sunk at how Luke glared up at him, but he tried not to let it get to him.

 

“Unless you want to be left on this plane to go  _ God-knows-where _ , I’d suggest you get your ass moving,” Michael said, with indifference clear in his tone.

 

“Uhn…. Fuck off, Clifford,” Luke growled quietly in response while rubbing his knuckles over his still-drowsy eyes.

 

Michael glared down at the dumb blond, and fired back, “Fine, you little shit. Ain’t my problem if you wanna sit here like the fuckin’ pathetic sick boy you are. I won’t give a damn if I leave you here, and never see your ugly ass face for the rest of this trip! Or, maybe even for the rest of my damn life, for that matter!”

 

The kitten boy’s heart sunk as he snatched up his bag from off his seat where he had set it. He was far too infuriated to really care about how he really felt right at the moment. He knew he shouldn’t have said that. This trip was supposed to help him finally confess his feelings to Luke, not make their  _ “relationship” _ —if you could even call it that—worse than it already was.

 

_ ‘Dammit, Michael. You did it again!’ _ His conscience growled at him from the recesses of his mind.

 

_ ‘Shut up! He deserved it, the little punk! Who the hell does he think he is? Someone who had cancer, AND someone who you just so happen to fancy. _ ’ Michael growled back at himself, though he knew it was pointless.

 

As he was stepping out into the aisle, he stumbled over Luke’s feet and nearly fell face first into the middle column of seats. 

 

“SHIT-FUCK!” Michael screeched, catching himself just before his face met the headrest of a seat. With an even deeper scowl, he straightened up and looked back at the infuriating blond boy. Luke was just staring back at him, as if he had done absolutely nothing wrong, eyebrows raised innocently with dark eyes. 

 

Michael scoffed before continuing down the aisle with his bag over his shoulder. He was tired and not at all in the mood to play games. However, being on his feet was making him feel a lot better already. Or maybe it was being away from Luke…

 

_ ‘Yeah right, Jackass.’  _

 

He stopped at the terminal ramp long enough to throw a glance behind him to see Luke carrying a small bag over his shoulder. Michael noted how he seemed healthier than before when he was suffering under his cancer. He looked good, besides being rude all the time. 

 

“There he is!” Calum’s boisterous voice shouted down the hall that connected the plane to the airport, making the raven haired boy roll his eyes. He looked down at the ground as the boy came thundering down the hall past him, a loud, “did you kill him or something?” leaving his chest.

 

Ashton looked tired and ready for a nap when Michael’ tilted his chin up at him. He was certain he looked the same, if not worse.

 

“Thought we left you guys back in Sydney there for a little bit. Cal wanted to come back and check, he completely ignored the stewardess.” Ashton said as the younger man finally reached his side, one of the blonde’s big dopey smiles spread over his face.

 

“..Almost wish you had...” Michael mumbled under his breath as Luke came into view along with Calum who looked like he might murder him. Much to the black haired man’s surprise though, he didn’t say anything as they came to stand in front of him and Ashton.

 

Ashton started speaking again before he could question the underlying meaning to the look in Luke’s eyes.

 

“We have to wait another two hours before we board the next flight. So we better go get into the right terminal and get comfy.” 

 

“...Uh, that fucking sucks…” Luke complained, his eyes still droopy with what could only be sleep. 

 

“Hey, you can use me as a pillow if you want to try to sleep some more. C’mon Luke, don’t fall asleep here. Everyone with a heart knows you can sleep anywhere....” 

 

Calum’s voice drifted to a murmur as he walked Luke into the airport, leaving Ashton and Michael to wander behind. They were left in heavy, tired silence. But that didn’t last long because there Ashton was, being the dad he was.

 

“So..? How’d the flight go?” He asked smoothly.

 

Michael had to bite back the urge to laugh, “you were sitting right in front of us, shouldn’t you know?”

 

“I was a little preoccupied in trying to drown everything out, so no, I don’t know.” Ashton said matter-of-factly.

 

“Of course you did that. Well, long story short, Luke can outsleep crying babies and still manage to trip me getting out of my seat.” He summed up with a small shake of his head.

 

Ashton chuckled lightly beside him.

 

“It’s not funny you ass-hat, I could’ve lost my nose!” The younger of the two exclaimed and he’d deny the smile breaking out over his face to anyone who mentioned it.

 

“Then you could be Voldemort, or wait, Michaelmort.” Ashton stated, his eyes forming crow’s feet at the corners as he giggled, Michael right along with him.

 

“Think you’re bloody hilarious don’t you? Bludger is what you are, and a sleep deprived one at that.” Michael smiled when Ashton shook his head in disagreement.

 

“Think we can both agree that  _ CALUM _ is the Bludger out of us.” He teased, causing the Kiwi to stop and turn a full one-eighty, glaring at the two of them where they too now stood.

 

“Excuse  _ you _ , Ashton Fletcher Irwin. We all know you’re the sappy one. I mean really, who buys their friend seventeen roses on Valentines Day?”

 

Michael looked over to Ashton who looked genuinely surprised, but there was a prominent blush blooming in the rounds of his cheeks. 

 

“Shut up, Cal.” Ashton mumbled, head tilted down towards the ground.

 

Calum’s face turned smug as if he knew something that the rest of them didn’t. A small breathless laugh left his lips before his eyes flickered to Michael. The smile faded quickly, instead being replaced by some unreadable emotion. They locked eyes for a moment until Luke stole both of their attention.

 

“Oi, you said I could use you as a pillow, Cal. Get your ass up here, we’re not going to Terminal five just to miss our plane.” He deadpanned from at least ten feet ahead of them all.

 

Michael rolled his eyes and brushed past Calum who was still standing there looking like he wanted to say something back. Instead, the black haired boy heard him sigh and mutter words to Ashton. Luke had already turned around and was walking again with his bag over one of his broad shoulders. What Michael would give to hold those shoulders in his hands, or to just rest his head on one of them. His sage green eyes trailed down the tall expanse of the blonde’s back, then down to the slight curve of his bum. He was helpless to the brief moment of explicit thoughts that began running through his head as he took in the endless lengths of Luke’s legs.

 

_ ‘What the fuck! Jesus, Michael. Stop thinking these things,  _ fucking _ hell.’  _ He shook his head and forced his eyes away from the tall ass kid in front of him. 

 

As they walked, he hoped that the next plane ride would be more peaceful than the last one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Comments? Questions?  
> Hope you all enjoyed it.  
> Kudos if you liked it!
> 
> We love you!

**Author's Note:**

> ****  
>    
>  _Hugs, kisses, ily~_   
> 


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